Senior Data & AI Solutions Architect

Databricks; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 182,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to partner with customers in Chicago to design, implement, and productionize data and AI solutions on the Databricks platform. You will own the architecture, guide design decisions, and deliver end-to-end systems spanning data engineering, AI, and application development.

You will work across engineering, product, and developer relations to deliver strategic outcomes, embedding with customer teams, and driving adoption with measurable business

Qualifications

• 6+ years experience in data engineering, data platforms & analytics, or software engineering.
• Comfortable writing code in Python, Scala, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern frameworks.
• Working knowledge of two or more Cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP) with expertise in at least one.
• Deep experience with distributed computing with Apache Spark™ and knowledge of Spark runtime internals.
• Familiarity with CI/CD for production deployments.
• Working knowledge of MLOps, ML/AI models and AI APIs.
• Design and deployment of performant production end-to-end data architectures and applications that combine data pipelines, ML/AI models, and user-facing interfaces.
• Experience with technical project delivery - managing scope, timelines and measurable outcomes, translating complex concepts into actionable solutions.
• Documentation and white-boarding skills.
• Experience working with enterprise clients and managing conflicts across a broad stakeholder range.

Responsibilities

• Production Solution Delivery: Lead impactful customer technical projects by delivering production-grade systems, designing and building reference architectures, custom applications and data ingestion and ML/AI model integration.
• Transformational Impact: Guide strategic customers as they implement big data projects including end-to-end design, build and deployment of AI applications.
• Empower Customers: Guide customers on architecture and design; bootstrap or implement customer projects leading to successful understanding and adoption of Databricks.
• Own the Architecture: Lead architecture and design decisions, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, and aligned with customer needs and Databricks best practices.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Customer Support to provide product feedback and rapid resolution for engagement-specific issues.
• Customer Immersion: Embed with customer teams to understand challenges and deliver impact.
• Reusable Assets & Scale: Contribute accelerators, frameworks, and best practices that scale across accounts and influence the Databricks product roadmap.

Skills

Python

Scala

JavaScript/TypeScript

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Distributed computing

MLOps

Architecture design

Documentation

Enterprise client work

Tools

Apache Spark

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Databricks is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to partner with customers in Chicago to design, implement, and productionize data and AI solutions on the Databricks platform. You will own the architecture, guide design decisions, and deliver end-to-end systems spanning data engineering, AI, and application development.

You will work across engineering, product, and developer relations to deliver strategic outcomes, embedding with customer teams, and driving adoption with measurable business